Nations that encourage sampling of a variety of sports among promising athletes - rather than intense, early specialization - take home a higher total number of Olympic medals per capita.

The process is a lot like idea generation. Focusing on a single idea to the exclusion of others produces fewer and fewer returns over time. It's the law of diminishing returns. For most of us, for those of us who have average ability with a capacity to improve, sampling a wide variety of ideas will produce more opportunities for that breakthrough or a meaningful new connection.